FANTASY FOOTBALL ARTICLES

Eight staff writers have all been polled who their sleepers, undervalued and overvalued players are. To make this within context of your draft, we have shown the selections against the average draft rankings and are highlighting when at least three writers have a consensus on a player.

Sleepers(Players drafted as a backup that have the potential to perform like a starter)

(4 stars)

Vishante Shiancoe, Minnesota Vikings - He already performed at a high level in Minny last year when he racked up a career best 42 catches for 596 yards and seven touchdowns. Granted, Brett Favre is hardly in his prime this year but that doesn't mean that Shiancoe won't do at least as well if not better than last year.

Chase Coffman, Cincinnati Bengals - Coffman lays outside of most league drafts ranked 26th in the average draft but that doesn't scare off four of our staff who look past the Bengals as a team that has never used tight ends much. The drafting of Coffman was expressly to get another receiver on the field - the departure of T.J. Houshmandzadeh leaves a big void behind - and Coffman comes in as a pure receiver who didn't block that much even in college. He is a rookie on a questionable team, but his price to acquire isn't scaring anyone off.

(3 stars)

Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers - Have to love Davis who is either a sleeper or a bust every season (and always a bust by year end). But this season in Jimmy Raye's offense could actually be different and Davis appears to be stepping up in camp. Then again, he also had four votes against him here so the entire jury is hardly convinced he has turned a corner.

Kevin Boss, New York Giants - While his second season did not hold much fantasy significance with just 384 yards, Boss did turn in six touchdowns and 2009 witnesses the team retooling the wideouts completely. Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer have been replaced with largely inexperienced receivers and that leaves Boss as the veteran who Eli Manning already relies on – particularly in the red zone.

(2 stars)

Anthony Fasano.

Undervalued(Players drafted as a starter but a great value where available)

(5 stars)

Greg Olsen, Chicago Bears - Most of the staff were very high on Greg Olsen delivering better than his #5 Average Draft Position. The introduction of Jay Cutler to an offense with questionable wide receivers seems like a slam dunk for Olsen to have a big year. He's already shown to be the favorite target of Cutler in minicamp and training camp.

(3 stars)

Owen Daniels, Houston Texans - One of the favorite sleepers of last year is considered undervalued in 2009. His lack of touchdowns seems to keep him from being an elite tight end but he's undeniably never worse than solid each week with catches and yardage.

John Carlson, Seattle Seahawks - The second year player comes off a great rookie campaign of 55 catches for 627 yards and five touchdowns. And that was mostly without Matt Hasselbeck around. He scored in three of the final six weeks and can only improve in this new offense.

(2 stars)

Chris Cooley.

Overvalued(Players that are poor values where being drafted, if not outright busts)

(5 stars)

Jeremy Shockey, New Orleans Saints - Shockey has finally worn out any optimism that people had when he switched to the Saints. They do not throw to him as much as hoped since there are so many other weapons and Shockey hasn't remained healthy anyway. Shockey has been best when he is healthy and one of the most used targets for his team. Neither has happened in New Orleans. He was a three star overvalued player last year.

(4 stars)

Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers - He was written up as undervalued and also an overvalued player. Sounds more like no one can be sure what the high-potential, low-production tight end will really do.

(3 stars)

Kellen Winslow, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Winslow is back in his home state but he’s being overvalued by drafters expecting the same production as he had in Cleveland. The Buccaneers have a rush-heavy offense this year with Derrick Ward and Ernest Graham and should see success without resorting to the pass as much as Cleveland did with Winslow. Add in the specter of what could be a constantly changing QB situation all season and Winslow’s stock isn’t as high.